Loved ones gather to honor life of teen killed by a train in East Aurora

EAST AURORA, N.Y. (WIVB) – Family and friends of 19-year-old Jett Hamann, the teen who was hit and killed by a train last week, gathered at 42 North in East Aurora to celebrate his life.

“Jett was just the most joyous person you ever met. Every single day. He didn’t let anything get him down,” said Jett’s father Dejon Hamann. “He was just more than a best friend and a son. He was really a confidant and I learned so much from him, too.”

Last Wednesday, Jett was on his way to work at Left Coast Taco in East Aurora.

His father Dejon says Jett decided to walk the 1-mile trek from home to work that day, wearing earbuds. He was fatally hit by a train near the Oakwood Avenue viaduct.

An hour later Dejon got a call from Left Coast – asking where his son was.

“Sometimes you just know. I left the dog park frantically, drove to Left Coast just to make sure it wasn’t a joke. They all had sullen faces. I drove home, ran all around the house,” said Dejon. “And then I saw there was a cop car underneath the bridge where he was killed. I was literally just going to walk over; I don’t know what was in my mind. I thought that maybe he was kidnapped. Then I saw the yellow tape and I ran and jumped across it.”

Family members tell us Jett loved fly fishing, Coco his Labrador retriever, and cooking, graduating from the Springville-Griffith Institute and the culinary arts program at the Wallace D. Ormsby educational center.

Jett and his father, out of their own house, co-founded ‘Aurora Bagels‘, providing what Dejon calls ‘happiness into the world through delicious food.’

“We’re definitely going to change the name and rebrand it to Jett’s. We were part of a team. I would hand roll all these bagels and he would stay up all night boiling and baking them,” Dejon said.

The community has rallied around the Hamann family, raising over $15,000 for funeral expenses and to support the business.

Left Coast Taco has been closed since Jett’s passing. During that time co-workers, in his memory, got matching tattoos of a jet alongside a paper airplane.

“He was a great chef, but he was also a little slow sometimes, take a seat when maybe there was some work to do, like any 19 year old. So, they developed this nickname, {you’re no jet, you’re a} paper airplane. I love it, though,” said Dejon.

Jett’s family made a point to thank everyone for the support. Left Coast Taco says they will reopen Friday at 11:30 a.m. If you stop by, say Jett sent you.

“Take time with your loved ones. Take time with them and give them something, because you don’t know literally, they could be gone in a minute,” said Dejon.

If you’d like to support the Hamann family, you can click here to donate.

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Dillon Morello is a reporter from Pittsburgh who has been part of the News 4 team since September of 2023. See more of his work here and follow him on Twitter.

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